Fair Winds & Following Seas
by aprilroberta
Summary: AU: What if Elizabeth and Henry didn't meet at UVA but instead met when their assignments for the CIA and Marine Corps happened to cross paths?
1. Chapter 1

Elizabeth Adams stepped outside of the helo into the heavy, humid sea air. The wind from the propeller practically ripped through her, causing her to have to grip her bag with all her might and even her tightly wound ponytail faltered sending her long blonde flying hair all over her face. Dammit, she knew she should have gotten a haircut before she left. She looked around at her surroundings, the carrier was different than she had expected. She had looked at so many pictures and seen them from afar and had convinced herself she knew was she was getting into but standing here on the deck was so extraordinary and she wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

She walked out of the way of the helicopter and toward a man in BDU's. He managed a small smile and held out his hand. "Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Rossi, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Elizabeth just smiled, "Elizabeth Adams, likewise." She was still too overwhelmed by her surroundings to string together much more of a sentence.

He didn't waste a minute before starting to explain to her the layout of the ship, going over the numbering systems for the different decks and levels and explaining how to get around. Thank god she had studied it beforehand because she was so overwhelmed by the sheer expanse of the carrier that she was unable to focus completely on his words. He led her into the ship first to the bunks. "Ma'am you have to understand we don't get many women onboard, especially women with rankings equivalent to officers so while you have your own room you will have to share a bathroom area with two other male officers, possibly one more if we pick up anyone else or we happen to have a TAD officer onboard.

Elizabeth nodded, "It's fine. I'm a woman in the CIA, I'm used to being overrun with men."

Lt. Rossi just smiled awkwardly at her little joke and opened the door to her bunk. It was tiny and sterile looking. A small bed jutting out from the wall, a tiny desk right up next to it, and a small area for her clothing. She could make this work. Her quarters at the Farm hadn't been much better and those she had to share. At least it was her own space.

"Captain McCord is next door to you, he's the flight commander and Captain Mather is across. You'll mostly be working with those two I assume."

"If you'd like to take some time to get settled I can wait for you outside and then take you to the operations room to meet Captain McCord and Captain Mather. I imagine the CAG will want you to check in with him as well."

Elizabeth smiled and shook her head, "No, let's just go." He was sweet to offer but she didn't really have anything to get settled. She just wanted to get to work.

They first checked in with the CAG and Elizabeth found herself feeling a little off, she just prayed it was nerves and not seasickness. "Elizabeth Adams, pleasure to meet you." The Captain of the Air Group wasn't a tall man, in fact he looked as though he was just under six feet, but he was intimidating nonetheless. He voice was stern and his handshake was alone was a force to be reckoned with. Elizabeth swallowed hard and prayed her nerves weren't showing. "Conrad Dalton highly recommends you, he's never let me down. I expect you'll serve us well Agent Adams. It's good to have you onboard."

Elizabeth just smiled and nodded, "Thank you, sir." She was honestly surprised by his willingness to overlook the fact that she was a woman and focus solely on her abilities. She had expected to have to prove herself—although she still had a lot of men to meet. Dalton had never expected any less from his people though so it made sense anyone he had a lot of respect for would feel the same way. Hopefully the men in the squadron would be the same way.

They made their way to the small squadron operations room. Two men were hunched over a table and looked to be intently discussing several maps in front of them.

Lt. Rossi announced their presence and the two officers stood up and faced them.

Elizabeth felt her breath hitch at the sight of the man on the right. He was tall with light brown hair and sharp cheekbones. His dark eyes looked kind somehow, she couldn't pinpoint why exactly, and the way his mouth folded into a friendly smile was enough to make her feel like she couldn't catch her breath. She pursed her lips and pried her eyes away.

Lt. Rossi introduced them, "Agent Elizabeth Adams, this is Captain Henry McCord and Captain Brian Mather."

Captain McCord was the first to stick out his hand. She groaned internally, his adorable smile was giving her butterflies. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Agent Adams. I hope Lt. Rossi has given you a proper tour of the carrier?"

She smiled and nodded, "He's been very helpful." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear twirled it once before she pulled her arm down quickly. Good lord what was happening to her? She was acting like a middle schooler with a crush.

 _Come on, Elizabeth. Be cool. You have to work with this guy for the next six months._ She just needed to keep repeating that to herself. She was here to work, nothing more.

Henry held eye contact with her, unnerving her in a way and she averted her gaze. He was so attractive, it was just unexpected, she would get over it.

Luckily Captain Mather reached forward to shake her hand and thankfully dove right in to their mission. He seemed to be all business and Elizabeth was somewhat grateful for that. They got straight to work, discussing the reason she was there. She had been assigned to the carrier to work with the squadron and assets in country to secure more accurate intel and reduce possible casualties in their air raids and to improve location accuracy.

They finished up with basics for the day, clueing in Elizabeth to their standard operations and procedures and decided to start fresh tomorrow. When they disbanded for the night Captain Mather headed to the mess hall but Elizabeth wasn't hungry and apparently neither was Henry and they headed towards their bunks together.

She was tense but she found she wasn't uncomfortable in his presence like she normally would have been with an attractive man she had just met. She was usually a nervous talker and although Henry had her on edge, at the same time something about his presence put her at ease. If she was honest with herself, finding a man attractive at all was a rare phenomenon for her. The times she actually found a man attractive were few and far between and for her to then be affected by said attractive man was an even more elusive feeling. But this, this was different. It was so strange to feel so many butterflies but at the same time feel comfortable.

She was totally unaware that Henry was feeling the same thing. From the moment she walked into ops he had been sort of awestruck by her. Pretty girls normally didn't affect him the way Elizabeth Adams was affecting him. But she was more than pretty, she was absolutely stunning and she was also brilliant. Henry had enjoyed just talking with her about work.

"Is this your first time on a carrier?" Henry asked as they walked toward their quarters, wanting to break the silence. They were going to be working closely together and he wanted to get to know her.

Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, I studied everything about it and I thought I would be prepared but I underestimated how extraordinary it would be." She was genuinely in awe of the carrier, it was more incredible than she imagined.

Henry smiled; she was so cute when she smiled. The way her lips curled was adorable. It made his heart skip a beat.

"Give it a couple months. It'll seem small." He said, making them both laugh. She knew it was going to be true.

"How many times have you been deployed?" She asked, he seemed like he was around her age, maybe a little older, not to mention he was a Captain so this was most definitely not his first deployment.

"This is my fourth deployment."

"So you're well acquainted with carrier life."

Henry nodded, "Yeah, this is my second carrier deployment. The other two were in country."

"Afghanistan?" She asked quietly.

Henry nodded; he almost looked like a little boy with his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I assume you've come from the Middle East desk, have you been?"

Elizabeth bit her lip and crossed her arms, nothing bad had happened to her when she was in country but it had certainly been eye opening to witness the death and destruction first hand. "Yeah, I um, I was there a few months back. It was certainly an experience."

Henry pursed his lips and nodded, "Yes, that it certainly is."

Elizabeth knew his time there couldn't have been a picnic, it was war for god's sake, but she didn't want to pry. She had just met him after all. By now they had arrived at their bunks and Elizabeth was frankly disappointed to end their conversation. "Well, um, this is me."

"That's me," Henry said, pointing to the door next to hers.

"I hear we're bathroom mates as well." She was trying to sound playful when she said that but it just came out sounding weird and she cringed. God she was bad at this.

"Um, yeah, do you need any help in there?"

She raised an eyebrow, what the hell did he just ask her? Maybe she had jumped to the wrong conclusion when she assumed he was a gentleman.

Henry blushed and started to wave his hands in front of him, "Oh god, no, I'm sorry, I meant do you know how to use everything? How to turn the shower on and all that stuff? It can be a little tricky."

Now was Elizabeth's turn to blush, she felt like an idiot for judging him. She laughed nervously, "Oh yeah, I know. Thank you though."

Henry took a deep breath in relief and nodded. "Um, that's good. Well, it was great to meet you, Agent Adams. Sleep well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"You too Captain McCord, and please call me Elizabeth." She asked as she pushed open the door to her bunk.

Henry was at his door and looked over, "Elizabeth." He said with a smile. "Please call me Henry."

"Goodnight, Henry." She said as she slipped into her bunk and closed the door behind her.

Henry just smiled and shook his head as he entered his own bunk. He sat down and took a deep breath. This was certainly going to be a long six months.

Elizabeth shut her door and sank down against it and she laughed out loud. She caught her breath and powered up the computer. She was supposed to check in with Isabelle but she definitely had alternative motives.

 _Please answer. Please answer. Please answer._ She muttered to herself as the call connected. Finally she saw Isabelle's face and she sighed in relief. "Oh god it's good to see you."

"Elizabeth, you haven't been on carrier for even twelve hours, please don't tell me you're already sick of it?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her friend, "No, but the squadron captain. Isabelle…honestly he's like George Clooney handsome."

Isabelle raised an eyebrow, "Oh my god do you have a crush? And at work! Is the salty air already getting to you?"

Again Elizabeth rolled her eyes as her friend teased her, "No, I don't have a crush. He's just handsome. I'm allowed to think men are attractive without having any ulterior motives." She said, a little too indignantly.

Isabelle bit her bottom lip like she was trying her hardest not to tease her friend. "Uh huh, okay, whatever you say, Bess."

"We're not talking about this right now!" Elizabeth said and immediately moved on to explaining her first day to Isabelle.

But Isabelle had seen the way her friend's cheeks got rosy at the mention of her new coworker. This was certainly going to be an interesting six months.

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My first ff in a very long time, I'm nervous! Please leave me a comment if you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth found getting used to life on the carrier was a lot easier than she anticipated. So far she liked everyone she worked with and even though the food wasn't great it was honestly better than anything she could make herself. Then of course there was Henry. She hated so much that she was really starting to like him as a person. Why couldn't he have had a terrible personality? Her crush would have gone away so quickly. But he was sweet and thoughtful and funny in a terribly cheesy way and the more she spoke to him the more she liked him.

Five days in marked the first day she would actually get to see the squadron leave the carrier for drills. They were testing out an upgrade to their location technology and needed to make sure the aircraft could intercept the signals with no issues.

"Hey, do you want to go up to deck with me? I'll walk you through the aircraft procedure and then you can watch the planes take off. I swear watching one take off from a carrier for the first time is still one of the best experiences of my life."

Elizabeth just smiled as he spoke, he was so enthusiastic about flying and she adored that. "Absolutely, lead the way."

She waited for him outside the squad room and watched the guys leave in their flight suits. When Henry walked out she was surprised her brain didn't turn to mush. She'd seen Top Gun, she knew flight suits could look sexy on the right guy but Henry McCord made Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer look like trolls.

He waved for her to follow and she was glad he wasn't trying to carry on a conversation with her because she was certain she wouldn't be able to form a coherent sentence.

"This carrier is equipped only with F-18's?"

Henry nodded, "Well, for purposes of our squadron. Hornets are a lighter fighter than Tomcats, more maneuverability not to mention just one guy up in the air instead of two. Tomcats are primarily being used as interceptors while Hornets have taken on the lead in combat roles. Word is they're testing out a new Super Hornet they're hoping to introduce in the next couple years."

Elizabeth couldn't help but grin when he talked about the possibility of a new, most likely faster, aircraft. He was practically salivating. Boys and their toys.

"So, you think you'll trade this baby in for a new model then?"

Henry shook his head, "No, I think this will be it for me."

She figured there was more to the story than that but she just listened as he dove into explaining the checks he went through before he took off and telling her about all the different parts to the plane.

She was listening intently until she saw the writing on the side of the plane. "Hang on, your call sign is _Yoda_?" She asked, her eyes wide with excitement. She was going to give him so much crap for this.

Henry's cheeks turned red, god dammit he was cute when he blushed.

He nodded, "Uh, yeah, well I was a religion major in college and the guys give me a lot of grief for always referencing theologians and I guess that all comes off as cryptic advice and somehow that translated to Yoda?"

Elizabeth bit her tongue trying not to laugh. She had to admit it was pretty perfect. "Wow, I mean…wow." She was speechless and she was trying to maintain her composure.

"Laugh all you want! Yoda was a Jedi master. I'll take it."

"Oh, you're _so_ much more of a nerd than you let on!" She teased, still giggling because somehow this all just made him that much more endearing.

He shrugged as he began to climb into the plane, "Why do you think I became a pilot?"

And with that she busted up in laughter and turned to run over so she could get a good view of the planes taking off. She put her earmuffs on and got into her safe spot to watch as the pilots settled into their aircraft. Henry was the captain and would therefore be the first to take off. She watched as his plane moved into position. She heard the engine power up and even though she knew it was coming when the plane shot forward and took off from the carrier she was absolutely stunned. The ability of the plane to ascend into the sky in such a short amount of time was nothing short of extraordinary.

The plane disappeared into the sky and the other aircraft took off after him. Each time she found it was still extraordinary.

She couldn't even move from her spot once the aircraft were out of sight. She had taken off her earmuffs but she still felt like she was in her own little world so when the flight control officer tapped her shoulder she found herself somewhat startled. Damn, she really needed to get to ops.

When she entered the control room her ears perked up at Henry's voice. She quickly slipped back into work mode and squadron gave updates and she provided information throughout the drill. It seemed to be going off without a hitch. Once they called it, Elizabeth practically ran out of the room and back onto the deck, she _had_ to see the planes being caught by the cables as they landed.

She made it out with time to spare so she leaned against the railing and waited for any sign of the squadron. One of the young men tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry, ma'am, the boys are inbound so you'll want to put your muffs back on."

She smiled and thanked him and prepared herself to see the landing. Slowly the planes came back into view and started descending in the sky. She found herself getting nervous. She knew all about how the planes landed by catching a cable on the carrier but she had never seen it in action. She was nervous but still excited. The first plane headed for the carrier and she felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. It was truly amazing what these pilots did; the amount of skill it took even just to take off and land these aircraft was mind blowing.

She found she held her breath as the plane touched down onto the carrier and caught the cable. Seeing it happen right before her eyes was spectacular. The plane shooting onto the carrier and being caught just as it was about to run out of room. It was exhilarating.

The first plane down was Henry's and her heart started to race when she saw him exit his aircraft. She made her way down to meet him and she found she could not stop smiling. "That was amazing! Honestly, I can't believe what a rush just watching that, it must be even better to be in your seat!" She practically screamed the minute she had the chance.

Henry laughed, "It's honestly the best thing in the world. I love flying."

Henry couldn't stop staring at Elizabeth, her hair was wild from the wind and her smile lit up her entire face. Flying was definitely the best thing in the world, but he was pretty sure her smile was a close second.

After they had all gathered to debrief both Henry and Elizabeth were grateful to again focus on work. Once they were about to finish for the night it was past dinner time and Henry could hear Elizabeth's stomach growl. He ignored it at first but after the third time he couldn't contain his reaction, "Um, I think we need to call it a night and get some food." He didn't want to call Elizabeth out and embarrass her.

She sighed, "Oh thank god, I'm about ten minutes away from eating you all!" She started getting up from her chair and Henry just smiled at her, he appreciated her ability to make fun of herself. He jumped up behind her and followed her out of ops. "You heading straight down to mess?"

"I was planning on grabbing my sweatshirt first, I tend to get a little cold down there for some strange reason. I'll meet you at mess after I grab it?"

"That's okay, I'll just walk with you." He shrugged as if that casual gesture somehow made him hanging on her less pathetic. He certainly felt pathetic, they ate together at least once every day and their casual conversations over food were always his favorite moments of every day. He'd never wanted to continue talking to someone the way he did with Elizabeth.

On the walk back to her room she started gushing again about how exciting seeing the Hornets in action had been. He felt pride that she had enjoyed it so much and he was secretly thrilled he had been able to be a small part of something she found so fascinating.

When they got to her room she invited him in, just to be safe he hung in the doorway. He wanted to be respectful of her personal space and he also didn't want anyone to walk by and get the wrong idea. She dug through her bag to pull out a sweatshirt and Henry took a minute to observe her room. She'd only been on the carrier for five days now and apart from some things on her desk and the mess she seemed to be making out of her clothing duffle, she clearly hadn't settled in yet. There were two photos on her desk and Henry felt a tug at his heart when he noticed that in one of them she had her arm around a young man. He swallowed thickly and reached out to touch the photo. The one next to it was Elizabeth and a young brunette woman. He didn't want to be _that_ guy so he asked the first thing that came to his mind, "Are these your siblings?" He cringed internally, what the hell was he doing?

Elizabeth turned around and smiled when she noticed him pointing to the photos. "That's my younger brother and the other one is my friend Isabelle, she works for the company currently out of Langley."

Henry felt his whole body relax, which was stupid because even if she had a boyfriend there was no way he could ever have her anyway. Though he supposed you could never really have a woman like Elizabeth, but he'd be perfectly content to be had by her.

Henry was practically gob smacked out of his thoughts when he saw the sweatshirt she was now wearing. "You went to UVA?" he asked, somewhat in shock as he pointed at the crew neck sweatshirt she slipped onto her thin frame.

She was fixing the hem and looked up at him, "Yeah, I graduated in 1991."

"Oh my god, I graduated in 1988."

Elizabeth grinned, "Well, looks like we were there together for a year."

Henry sighed, "How the hell did I miss you?" He felt his face turn red at how forward that statement must have seemed and he quickly backtracked. "I just mean I would have loved to know you back then. I think we would have gotten along well."

Elizabeth's face felt hot, she hoped it wasn't too red. Thank god the light was dim in her bunk. "Yeah, me too. Although I was a math major, I don't think we would have had many opportunities to cross paths, the theology and math departments aren't exactly close." She made a joke about it but really she had been thinking the same thing.

Henry chuckled, she was right but it didn't take away all the "what ifs". What if they had met at school? What if that had crossed paths at some point…wouldn't he have remembered someone who looked like her? He was positive he would have. Then again, she had been a freshman when he was a senior so it was even less likely they would have ever crossed paths. But that didn't matter, he couldn't stop wondering, what if?

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THANK YOU so very much for reading & commenting & following & favoriting. I'm so overwhelmed by all the kind reviews and I appreciate them so so so much! Please placate my needy ass again with them! haha And should I post Chapter 3 right after the 101th episode on Sunday or wait a day? Let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth was adjusting to carrier life fairly well, it felt a little like college. Well, if college had been sharing a very small and operationally complicated bathroom with four other male officers. Okay, maybe it wasn't like college. Two of the officers had opposite schedules so their bathroom schedules didn't overlap much, but it had become a dance trying not to make things awkward with Mather and McCord. They were always kind to her and would immediately offer her the bathroom if they thought she needed it, she appreciated that but it wasn't necessary.

As she was getting ready for bed one night she headed into the bathroom without realizing it was occupied. There stood Henry McCord in a pair of pants slung low on his hips. She could see all the muscles in his toned chest and arms and her eyes trailed up taking in all of his fantastic physique before she realized he was looking at her as he obliviously brushed his teeth.

She tried not to blush, "I'm um, I'm so sorry, the door was open."

He smiled at her, even with toothpaste around his mouth he still somehow had the best smile she'd ever seen. "Not a problem! I'll just be a minute more."

"Take your time," Elizabeth replied, her throat thick. He clearly had no idea what he was doing to her. His complete obliviousness to how hot he was, was actually kind of adorable.

He finished up and grabbed his things, walking out of the bathroom and into his bunk.

After five weeks they'd fallen into a working rhythm and in addition to spending their work time together, they spent most of their free time together as well. Elizabeth found she really enjoyed Henry's company. She liked how they communicated, the way they could get into an argument about something and cool off and head to dinner together minutes later. They were a good match, they respected each other. She often felt like she had to prove herself, working with so many men, but she never once doubted that Henry respected her opinion and experience. She couldn't help but think that any woman would be lucky to date him.

Elizabeth had finished up a call with Isabel and walked out of her room and over to Henry's. It was late and her stomach had been letting her know it was starving for the last ten minutes.

Henry's door was open so she peered into his room. He was sitting at his desk and opening a package of what looked to be cookies.

"From your Mom?" She called out from the doorway.

Henry looked up and a huge smile formed on his face at the sight of Elizabeth. He nodded, "Yeah, she worries. I think it makes her feel better to know I'm at least enjoying her cookies." He held one up and offered it to her.

Elizabeth practically lit up as she gratefully took the cookie and Henry couldn't help but smile, he loved how enthused she was about food.

"Oh god, I forgot what homemade cookies taste like." She moaned as Henry happily offered her another. He couldn't help but smile, she was adorable.

"Your Mom isn't a baker?" He asked.

She shook her head, "Nah, the only family I have is my brother and he's bad enough at picking up a phone let alone actually taking the time to mail me anything."

Henry froze, "I'm sorry. What happened to your parents?" Her face fell and he immediately regretted his question. He hadn't meant to pry. "I apologize, I hope that wasn't too forward? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Elizabeth shook her head as she wiped the crumbs from her mouth and moved to sit down on the bed next to him. She normally didn't talk about her parents but she felt comfortable with Henry. "No, it's fine. They died when I was fifteen. I didn't really have any other family except an aunt and uncle who didn't have any kids and didn't really know what to do with us so they sent us to boarding school."

"Elizabeth, I'm so sorry."

She shrugged, "It's fine. I actually really liked boarding school. I made a lot of really good friends who made me not feel so alone."

"I'm still sorry." He offered.

Normally she would have been annoyed that someone was directing their pity at her but with Henry she knew it wasn't pity, he wasn't looking at her like she was some broken little girl, he was just looking at her like he was sorry she had to go through that. "Thank you," she whispered.

Henry sensed she needed to change the subject and she was so grateful when he did. "Any chance you want to catch the movie with me tonight?"

Elizabeth grinned, "What are they playing?"

"I think its Ghostbusters?"

"Absolutely then," she said as she jumped up off the bed, "Come on Captain, let's go!"

Henry just laughed and followed her out of the room. She really was something.

Henry was really enjoying all the time he got to spend with Elizabeth, work and free time. She was fascinating and funny and he adored her boldness, Elizabeth Adams didn't take shit from anyone and he had to admit, he found it incredibly hot. But he wasn't letting himself think about that. He _couldn't_ let himself think about that.

One night a few days later they were playing cards and started talking about their careers, "So what made you join the CIA?" Henry inquired.

Elizabeth shrugged, "I never even thought about it until I got recruited in college. It was sort of this perfect fit that fell into my lap."

"That's it?" Henry asked, eyebrows raised.

She laughed, "Yeah, it really wasn't complicated. I met with a recruiter and it all just felt right. I followed my gut and I'm glad I did because I like where it's taken me. What about you? Why the Marine Corps Air Wing?"

Henry smiled to himself, "I just wanted to fly planes."

"Well, you could have done that in the Air Force or the Navy, why the Marines?"

Henry bit his lip as he considered his answer. "First to fight. If I was going to put myself out there I wanted to fully put myself out there."

Elizabeth just stared at him, analyzing his demeanor, her eyes steely and dark and somehow, she felt like she could almost see into his soul. "You're a brave man, Henry McCord."

"Or a reckless one if you ask my mother." He shrugged, brushing her off. She noticed he did that a lot when people tried to compliment him.

Elizabeth looked him up and down, she hadn't known him for long but she was pretty sure reckless could never be an adjective used to describe him. He could be impulsive, sure, and even sometimes let his emotions rule, but certainly not reckless. "Nah, its bravery. I can tell."

And he smiled at her, smiled like maybe he actually believed her.

On the work side, lately they had been dealing with a limited amount of ground intel and needed more on a specific region outside Baghdad. Their operation had been dealing a lot with Elizabeth's personal contacts she had met when she had been in country and for the most part they seemed to provide her with good intel. There was an area outside Baghdad, it was fairly remote but there was a small village there, that they were trying to get better intel on for a possible air raid but they hadn't been able to set up a meeting with an agent already on the ground and Elizabeth's contact, he was nervous to meet with anyone else.

Henry ended up walking into the room as Elizabeth was arguing with Mather. "I don't feel comfortable sending anyone else in, he knows me, he's comfortable with me, he might hold out if we send someone else."

Mather sighed, "We can't send you in with a big team."

Elizabeth shook her head, "Absolutely, I can't go to him with a whole team anyway. It will scare him off. They can escort me outside the village and I'll meet him alone. I trust this guy and I want him to continue to trust me. I can do this."

Mather seemed to be chewing on this idea and he finally nodded, "Okay, we'll send you in."

Henry finally spoke up, "I'm sorry, what is happening?"

Elizabeth and Mather both looked up at him, both apparently unaware he had walked into the room. "We're sending Elizabeth in to get our intel."

"On the ground?" Henry asked, baffled. Even though he'd heard them talk, he still couldn't quite believe it.

Mather nodded, "We need this intel, Henry."

Henry clenched his fists as he felt his heart race. He glanced over at Elizabeth. She would be on the ground, alone, in a war-torn country. He didn't like this idea one bit.

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I'm sorry, I meant to post this last week and had an incident that left me out of commission. lol Thank you for reading and please leave a review!


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't think it's safe. She shouldn't be on the ground alone." Henry practically spat, unable to hide his dislike of the idea of sending Elizabeth to meet with a source with no backup.

"She won't be alone; the unit will back her up into the village and she'll meet up with them once she makes contact. She's a trained spy, McCord, she knows what she's doing." Mather explained, although his face conveyed he clearly wasn't completely sure about this idea himself.

Elizabeth grabbed Henry's arm gently, "Captain, I've got this." Her face was serious, she had called him Captain instead of Henry to emphasize that this was work and not personal."

He sighed, "I have no doubt in your abilities Agent Adams," he truly didn't, "I would be worried about sending anyone in there without proper backup." That was true, sending anyone in without proper backup seemed unwise. The problem was that while sending anyone else in would make him uneasy, sending her in was going to make him sick.

Mather and Perez moved on quickly from the discussion and Elizabeth noticed Henry still looked uneasy. She squeezed his arm again, "Hey, I'm gonna be fine." She whispered.

Henry pursed his lips and nodded. "It's not that I don't trust your abilities, I know how amazing you are at your job." He whispered back.

Elizabeth nodded, her hand slowly sliding down his arm and brushing his fingers before she pulled away. For the first time she was sure she wasn't just imagining things and he was clearly struggling with the same feelings she was. She knew exactly what he was feeling, hell, she was feeling the same things and she couldn't say she wouldn't be upset if Henry was going to do what she was about to do. It was definitely dangerous but her intel could save innocent lives and that made it all worth it. In fact, it was the whole point of her liaising with the Marine Corps, to prevent casualties. She was going to do this and everything was going to be fine.

He glanced over at her when her hand left his and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something before remembering Mather and Perez were still in the room. He closed his mouth and sighed. Now wasn't the time or the place. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if there was ever going to be a right time or place.

Elizabeth noticed his confused expression but didn't question him. There would be time for that later. Right now, she had a job to do.

They decided they would send Elizabeth in country the next morning. She needed time to get in touch with her contact before it got dark. After they had arranged the details of the op everyone finally headed off to bed. Mather always seemed to run ahead of Henry and Elizabeth. Henry wasn't quite sure if it was just Mather's disdain for small talk or if he sensed some kind of vibe between Henry and Elizabeth. Henry didn't want to think about that. He wasn't sure Mather would really care about anything going on between him and Elizabeth but he also didn't really think Mather was the type of person to notice these types of things. And then there was the fact that _nothing_ was actually going on between them.

They walked back to their bunks silently, that was odd for them. They were usually talking all the way back to their bunks. And this silence was awkward, it was _loud_ , both of them thinking things they couldn't-or at least shouldn't-actually say to each other.

Elizabeth kept looking straight ahead, she thought that if she caught any emotion in his face she might break down. She just tried to focus on her breathing and maybe she could get her heart to stop racing.

They arrived at their bunks and it was still awkward but neither of them seemed to be able to walk into their rooms just yet.

Henry spoke first, "Look, I'm sorry, I feel like an ass. I hope it didn't come off like I don't think you can't do your job. That wasn't my intention at all."

"Oh god, no of course not. I didn't think that even for a second." Elizabeth responded.

Henry sighed and smiled just a little, "I'm glad, I'm just worried." He paused, oh god he was making it awkward again, "I'd be worried sending anyone in there alone."

Elizabeth nodded, "Right, it's dangerous. Of course you would be, I'd be worried if someone else was going in too. It's…it's natural." She cringed, god she was making this worse.

"I…I just like you a lot. I consider you a good friend and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, especially when there was a way to prevent it."

"Henry," she started, and he felt a chill go up his spine. The way she said his name, her voice all low and soft like that, he didn't know how the hell he was managing to keep his feelings all bottled up inside. "I'm going to be fine, you're sweet to worry though."

He smiled and shook his head and practically glued his eyes to the ground. If he made eye contact with her he was going to end up spilling his feelings for her and he couldn't do that. It wasn't fair, especially since she had enough on her shoulders right now. Even though she was confident-as she should be-in her abilities, he knew how heavily an op could weigh on your shoulders. They had a lot riding on this and she had to be stressed. Confessing something as silly as his romantic feelings would be selfish and he couldn't do that to her. He wanted her to be as clear-headed as possible, she deserved that. He would feel like a jerk if he piled on her right now.

And it wasn't like anything could be done about his feelings even if he confessed them. He wanted to think she felt the same way, but there was a little part of him that was fearful that he was reading her all wrong and mistaking her kindness for attraction. That would be humiliating and he didn't want to be one of those jerks who thought a woman simply being kind meant she was interested. Dammit, this whole situation was so frustrating.

Elizabeth noticed he seemed to be dealing with something internally so she decided to let him off the hook. "Well, I'm going to get to bed. I'll see you in the morning, McCord, and I swear to you, everything is going to be fine."

The next morning, Henry saw Elizabeth off on the helo with the ops team. He felt like he was going to be sick. They were sending her into a remote village to meet up with a source and although the Marine ops team would be outside the city the entire time, she was still going to be alone and barely armed for a period of time. If anything happened to her he was going to lose his mind.

She smiled at him from the helo, her words from earlier echoing in his head. She was right; she was going to be fine. She had to be fine.

The aircraft disappeared into the sky and Henry felt like someone had filled his stomach with cement. He had so much he wanted to say to her but it just was never the time or the place.

He headed back into the ops center and went over her plan until the helo had them on the ground and they contacted him to let the team on the carrier know they were headed toward the village.

Elizabeth would be in contact with the team on the ground the whole time but he would have to have information relayed back to the carrier from them.

Elizabeth felt strangely confident as she exited the helo and made her way to the checkpoint in the village before she headed off on her own. She'd been in country several times before but this was the first op she was in charge of, she thought she'd be more nervous but she was really just ready to get her intel. She was confident in herself and her ability to do her job, she was going to make sure this went well.

She navigated across the village with ease and she met up with her source. She felt so much relief at the fact that he'd showed and he'd clearly been relieved she had showed as well. The intel he had was big, it was going to be able to help them precisely target several weapon storage facilities further into the desert and a base camp in the area as well. This was good intel, really good intel, she was glad to have taken this risk.

Back on the carrier Henry was full of anxiety and trying to keep a level head. The team with Elizabeth was keeping in constant radio contact with them and he was pretty sure he wouldn't actually breath until one of them announced Elizabeth was in sight.

Mather kept glancing over at him and it was making him even more anxious. "Mather, what the hell?" He practically whispered so no one else heard.

Mather shrugged, "Nothing, it's nothing. We're all worried about her but she's going to be fine. Sometimes I think she's tougher than all of us. You see how she took Lewis out the other day in training? She scared the hell out of quite a few of the guys. And I'm pretty sure she wasn't even giving him all she had. That woman is someone who I'd be proud to have my back, and I'm proud to have hers."

This made Henry laugh, Mather was right, she was tough as nails and he completely agreed, "Me too." He felt a little levity finally, like the cement in his chest had lightened. "She's pretty damn incredible."

He suddenly heard Elizabeth's voice over the radio. She was calling to say she'd got their intel and was heading back across the village. Henry felt even more relief. So far, she was okay and this whole thing was almost over. She'd be back safe and sound on the carrier in no time at all.

She signed off and they waited. It would take her about forty minutes to get to the checkpoint where she was to meet the team. About thirty minutes later everything seemed to be going well when all of a sudden there was gunfire. "What's happening?" Henry demanded, as calmly as he possibly could be when he was pretty sure his heart was beating so hard and so fast that it was going to pound right out of his chest.

"We're taking fire sir. We..." that was when the transmission cut off.

"What the hell just happened? Get it back!" Henry practically screamed, his voice terrifyingly low and serious. Now he was more than anxious, he was terrified.

"McCord, they'll get it back when they can. Calm down." Mather said, his voice calm and reasonable but his face conveyed that he was nervous.

Henry scowled at him, "We need to know if they've got her. I swear to god if they don't get out with her I'm going in myself."

Mather nodded, "They won't leave her."

That wasn't what Henry was concerned about, he knew they wouldn't leave her, but he wasn't sure that if she was having an issue getting back and saw things were getting bad, that she wouldn't order them to leave without her.

The whole ops center stood there silently. Everyone was clearly on edge waiting for the team to verify they were able to find Elizabeth and get out. Several minutes later they were still waiting on any transmission cluing them in on the state of the unit, when suddenly, the alarm went off signaling the squadron for an air raid.

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Thanks so much for reading & all the kind reviews! I'll try to get the next chapter up asap!


	5. Chapter 5

He and Mather rushed to the squadron room. The CAG was front and center. Henry was about to lose his mind; if they were targeting anywhere near where Elizabeth was, he had no problem defying orders.

Turns out the attack was coming from near Baghdad and so nowhere near where Elizabeth and the ops team were outside Basra. The helo had apparently gotten out of the strike zone minutes ago but he had no way of knowing who was on it or if anyone was injured as the radio had been damaged and they couldn't communicate through anything but code.

Henry got into his plane in a minor haze, it was a good thing he could ace his flight check in his sleep or else he would have been fucked, it took everything in him to do his job and not stay on the ground until he knew Elizabeth was safe. Ascending into the air was always one of his favorite parts of flying but today he was just going through the motions. He could only think about Elizabeth.

The minute he got up into the air he called down to the carrier, "Let me know when you have an update on the helo."

"Affirmative, Yoda."

He had to focus on his breathing, he was going to lose consciousness if he didn't focus. He couldn't be distracted up here, it could have dire consequences for everyone including himself. He had to stop thinking about Elizabeth and just have faith that she was okay.

Everything had happened in sort of a blur for Elizabeth. One minute she was leaving her source and heading across the city when she heard gunfire break out. She was only armed with a small caliber handgun that wouldn't do her much good against multiple assailants or a high-powered assault rifle so she had to be extremely careful as she made her way back to the unit. She tried to contact the team but nothing was happening. She really hoped they hadn't left without her. Finally, after continuously trying to get a message to the team in various ways, she got a response back in Morse code. They were taking heavy fire and she needed to get back as soon as possible. She was already close so now the question wasn't if she could make it back in time, she was pretty sure it was going to be could she make it back alive. As she got closer the noise intensified and she kept her hand right around her little .45. She turned the corner and found the unit engaged in a fight with local combatants. She could get back to the them, but she would be putting herself right in the line of fire. She decided she needed to sneak around to the opposite side. It would give her a better angle and a little more cover. But it meant she'd have to backtrack through the city and risk being apprehended. Shit, she couldn't do that. She'd just have to get closer and hope she could get someone on the team's attention long enough to cover her ass. She snuck around the side of the building. Her heart was racing faster than she'd thought possible. She was so beyond screwed if they figured out she was this close.

The guy who saw her first was Jones. He nodded to her, indicating he would cover her as she made a run for it, that was the best they could do for now. He moved as close to her as he could and acknowledged her once more.

Elizabeth waited for the opportune moment and she made a run for it. Bullets were flying everywhere and she watched as one of the ops team fell to the ground. She'd felt her skin crawl when a bullet had whizzed past her face, skimming the side of her head. She'd felt sick to her stomach but she knew she couldn't stop. They were taking heavy fire and needed to get out of there quick. She made it to the team and grabbed a rifle from the helo and begun to fire, covering Jones so he could get back to the helo as well. He stood up and was immediately shot. Elizabeth called his name and she just kept firing. He had clearly been shot in his flak jacket and was alive, but he needed help. Elizabeth didn't know what overcame her but she dropped the rifle and made a run for him. She helped him up and as other team members covered them she helped him move as fast as she could back to the helo. "I'm okay," he yelled as they practically stumbled onto the helo. It took off and Elizabeth sunk back against the seat. Her heart was pounding.

"Oh Jesus, ma'am, are you all right?" Lewis asked, knocking her out of her stupor.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She whispered, she was feeling dizzy. She had to get the rifle off her, she felt like it was weighing down her entire body. She engaged the safety and set it to the side before she reached up to touch the side of her face and noticed it was bleeding just the slightest.

"Lieutenant, she's been hit."

"No, I'm fine, the bullet just grazed me." She replied, still touching the side of her face.

"Ma'am, your arm." Lewis said, pointing to Elizabeth's shoulder, her jacket was stained with dark red blood.

She looked down at herself and ripped open her blood-stained sleeve. She hadn't even felt it. She saw the wound in the side of her arm and suddenly everything went black.

Elizabeth regained consciousness as she was being rushed to the medical bay. She kept blinking her eyes, everything was uncomfortably out of focus.

"Agent Adams," she heard a familiar voice say, "Just lie back and be still."

She hadn't been aware she was doing anything other than that. She shut her eyes again and was grateful that made the room stop spinning.

"Agent Adams, can you focus on me?" She heard Dr. Sara Hooper's calm voice.

"No, it's not that, I'm just dizzy when I open my eyes. I'm awake." She felt much more aware now that the dizziness was finally subsiding. Although she was afraid to open her eyes lest it returned.

"I'll give you something for that."

That was the last thing she actually remembered until she woke up in the medical bay. She blinked her eyes open and saw Hooper standing next to her bed writing something in her chart. "Hey Adams," she said with a smile.

Elizabeth grinned even though she was in mild pain, she liked Hooper. "What the hell happened?"

"You got really lucky is what happened. The bullet missed everything major and it was a low caliber round. Your arm is going to be very sore for a while and we'll obviously need to monitor you and make sure nothing gets infected, but there was no bone damage and for that you're extremely lucky."

She nodded her head and tried to sit up, "Okay," she paused for a moment to catch her bearings, "can I just go back to my bunk? I can't stay here." She hated hospitals, even though this technically wasn't a hospital, it was close enough that just the smell of the room was making her anxious.

Hooper frowned, "Adams, I really think you should stay just for the night."

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, really, I'll be better in my room. I don't like hospitals."

Hooper looked her friend up and down, she sensed there was more to that story but she didn't want to press. Elizabeth was technically fine, there was nothing more they could do for her. She sighed, "As long as you come back tomorrow morning so I can check you out, deal? Seriously Elizabeth, I'll come find you if you don't come back tomorrow morning. This ship isn't that big."

Elizabeth nodded in relief and promised she'd come back after breakfast, right now she just wanted to be alone. Well, she didn't really want to be alone, she wanted to be with Henry. Honestly, she was surprised and a little confused that he hadn't come to see her.

It was as if Hooper had read her mind, "And no going up to the flight deck to wait for the squadron to land. You need to be in bed."

Ahhh, that's where Henry was, "Was there an air strike?" She asked.

Hooper nodded, "Yeah, they got called all the way to Baghdad. They should be getting back sometime soon."

So Henry wasn't even on the ship. She didn't know why but this made her want to cry. It made no sense, she just wanted Henry but he wasn't even hers to want.

Henry arrived back on the ship a little while later and immediately ran to medical after he debriefed. All he knew was that Elizabeth had been injured and it's all he could think about. He had to see that she was okay.

"Elizabeth Adams?" He asked the corpsman who greeted him.

"Sorry Captain, she left."

"She what?" That meant she was fine, right?

He saw Hooper out of the corner of his eye, "Hooper, what the hell happened?"

Of course, she knew he was talking about Elizabeth. "Adams was shot in the arm, nothing major, she's going to be sore for a while but she's fine. She's very lucky. It also looks like she was grazed by a bullet. Apparently, she dragged Jones back to the helo after he'd been hit. She probably saved his life, he's got two broken ribs, he may not have been able to have made it back fast enough by himself."

 _Of course_ Elizabeth had been injured protecting someone else. That was exactly who she was. He was a mix of emotion, on one hand he was incredibly proud of her and on the other hand he was furious she had risked herself.

Elizabeth had arrived back at her room and just sat down. She looked down at the scarf she had been wearing in country and fingered the tear from where the bullet had grazed her. She touched the side of her face, it barely felt like a scratch, but it had shaken her much more than an actual bullet through her arm. She shuddered and tossed the scarf to the side. She didn't need to think about how she could have died right now, she just needed sleep. She laid down and although she was completely exhausted, she found that she couldn't fall asleep.

Henry had basically just charged into her room, Hooper telling him she'd gone back to her bunk against medical advice put his frustration over the edge. Her room was open and he burst inside.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Henry practically screamed at her. He was absolutely furious and he wore it all over his face. "You could have been killed. Did you stop to think for even one second that there are people who care what happens to you?"

Elizabeth didn't know what to say and to be honest she was too exhausted to get into this with him right now. She sat up carefully and cringed. She was too exhausted to be surprised that when he said 'people' cared what happened to her he was obviously talking about himself. "I'm sorry, Henry." She whispered. Her head was pounding and her arm was throbbing. Whatever medicine the doctor had given her had made her feel even worse.

Henry clearly noticed that she wasn't doing so well because he immediately sat down next to her. "Oh my god, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel worse." He sat down next to her and carefully wrapped an arm around her. "I'm so glad you're okay. I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you. I'm so, so sorry." He whispered, almost afraid as if he said the words at full volume it would somehow make them more real.

Elizabeth nuzzled her head against his shoulder. She was so tired and he was so cozy and she wanted to be ecstatic about him admitting he cared for her but she was far too tired so she just closed her eyes and leaned in.

Elizabeth woke up for the first time in a month feeling comfortable and well rested. She opened her eyes and yawned and suddenly her arm stung and she realized she was pressed not against the wall but against the strong chest of one Henry McCord. His presence startled her and she shot into a sitting position and she cringed and bit her tongue to keep from crying out when the action irritated the bullet wound in her arm. This action woke Henry who shot up as well, worry all over his face.

"Elizabeth, are you all right?"

She just stared at him for a moment; it was all coming back to her. She had fallen asleep in Henry's arms and he must have just stayed with her.

"Henry, you're here." Was all she could manage to spit out.

He smiled at her, "Of course I'm here. You were barely coherent and you refused to stay in sickbay and I wasn't about to leave you alone. How are you feeling?"

Her brain was still a little foggy from the meds. She shrugged, "A little out of it but I think I'm ok." She couldn't stop herself when she reached out to run her hands along the buttons of his khaki shirt. "You slept in your uniform."

"You fell asleep on me." He teased.

Elizabeth blushed, "Sorry, you should have moved me."

Henry shook his head. "No, I slept just fine." He was downplaying, he had actually slept very well. Knowing she was safe and in his arms was enough to let him sleep like a baby. "You should probably head back up to sickbay to get those stitches checked out."

She shook her head, "No, it's fine. They gave me bandages. I can do it." She looked over at the clock and noticed it was only 5 AM. "It's too early yet. I told Hooper I'd go see her after breakfast."

He frowned and got out of bed. "Fine, you don't have to go up there yet but I'm changing the bandage."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Henry, I'm fine. I can do this."

Henry sighed, he knew she could do this; he just needed to see with his own eyes that she was healing properly.

"Elizabeth, I know you can do this, I'm selfishly asking you to let me do this because it will make me feel better."

Elizabeth nodded, "Ok." She pointed to her desk with the bag of supplies they had given her. She then tugged at the hem of her sweatshirt and cringed as she lifted it up. Henry stepped in, "Here, let me help?"

She nodded and he tenderly helped her out of the garment. She shivered when the cold air hit her bare arms and chest and Henry reacted by running his hand up and down her good arm. His touch gave her goosebumps, luckily, they could be explained away by the cold.

Henry tried not to stare at her, he wasn't sure how she could look so beautiful in just a simple tank top. His eyes trailed the strong lines of her collarbone and defined shoulders until he focused on the bandage around her bicep. They sat down on the bed and Henry pulled off the bandage slowly and carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was cause her even minor pain. He gently cleaned the injury and bandaged her back up. He couldn't help himself when he ran his hand lightly across her shoulder. She had some light bruising along her shoulder. "Does this hurt?" He asked.

She shook her head, "It's a little tender but it's fine."

He nodded, "That's good." His hand trailed up her neck to the small cut from the bullet graze. They had cleaned it and put a small bandage over it when she was in medical. "What's this?" He asked with a frown, his fingers gently tucking her hair behind her ear.

She shook her head, "Um, just a graze."

He felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. The fact that a bullet had come so close to actually ending her life made him nauseous. He realized he had been touching her face for far too long and he suddenly removed his hand. He hoped he hadn't made her feel uncomfortable.

"You're okay," he whispered, not quite sure if it was a question to her or if he just needed to state it out loud to convince herself.

Elizabeth just nodded. The previous night was suddenly coming back to her, how Henry had burst into her bunk livid about how she had put herself in harm's way. "You were pretty mad at me last night." She couldn't help but flash him a small smile as she spoke, she was oddly happy he had been angry, it had made it very clear he cared about her.

Henry sighed, "I'm _so_ sorry I reacted the way I did. I thought we'd lost you for a little bit and then I heard you got all heroic on everyone and I thought, of course she put everyone else before herself, that's the kind of person she is. Then I heard you were shot and I got so angry at myself for agreeing to send you in there and I was just so angry that I had risked your life like that and I took it out on you and I'm so sorry. I'm just glad you're ok."

"You didn't risk my life, I was doing my job. Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your idea and we all agreed. No one takes the blame for this, especially not you." Her still slightly foggy brain seemed to be making her brave and she continued, "You said that I shouldn't be risking my life like that because there were people who cared about me."

Henry pursed his lips and took a step back, "Yeah, I mean, I know you aren't close with your brother but he cares about you. Your friends back home. Hell, the guys here all love you." He said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"What about you?" She asked, her voice soft but unwavering.

He reached out to squeeze her elbow reassuringly. "You know I care about you."

She looked directly into his eyes; he looked pained, as if he was hiding something from her. She didn't want to push him though. She knew what she felt for him and at this point she was fairly certain Henry felt the same way. It was just so complicated, they would be breaking so many rules and did she really want to be _that_ girl?

Henry stared back at her, all the things he had wanted to tell her bubbling to the surface. He had chastised himself yesterday for not telling her and now he was cowardly pushing those feelings down inside. She was fine, their situation didn't need the complication of him professing his love for her.

They were just staring at each other when Elizabeth decided to break the awkward silence. She abruptly stood up, "Let's go get breakfast. I need to change and you need a fresh uniform."

Henry was relieved she wasn't going to press the issue of feelings so he just smiled and got up; nothing could keep this woman down. "Meet you in the corridor in 5?"

She smiled, "I'll be ready."

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Hope you're enjoying this. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, I very much appreciate it!


	6. Chapter 6

Things had been a little weird between Elizabeth and Henry since they had spent the night together. They were dancing around these feelings that had suddenly started bubbling to the surface. It was easier to hide their growing attraction when nothing had been acknowledged, when nothing had happened to indicate that the other person might feel the same way.

Elizabeth was now positive that she wasn't imagining that he liked her back. He had been so angry and worried after she had been injured in country and so flustered when she had asked him what he meant when he said she had people who cared what happened to her.

But what she wasn't positive about was how any of that mattered considering they could both lose their jobs if they acted on their feelings. Well, she probably wouldn't lose her job but she would be reassigned to the gutters of Langley faster than she could snap her fingers. She had worked hard to get where she was and she didn't want to jeopardize that.

Henry was just as preoccupied with their situation but it was manifesting itself in more of a physical manner. He couldn't think or focus on anything other than Elizabeth. The minute she entered his mind there was suddenly no room for anything else. Just the other day it had taken him probably ten minutes to button his shirt because he kept getting distracted by how it had felt to have her body pressed up against his. She was throwing off his focus and it was frustrating. And every time he thought he convinced himself he was over it, she'd smile at him and he was right back down that rabbit hole.

They'd both been avoiding alone time. They still spent most of their time together, but always made sure there was another person with them. This meant they didn't have to acknowledge whatever the hell was happening between them. Avoiding was easier at this point, although neither of them thought they could last more than four more months like that.

They ended up alone walking back to their bunks for the night. It started out awkwardly until they fell back into the same back and forth they'd had practically since day one. It was a relief for both of them. They'd joked about Mather, about how in the hell he'd barely managed to crack a smile at the crazy story Rossi had told them at dinner. Henry felt like a weight was lifted off his chest, they were going to be okay, they were friends. Whatever this was between them, it could wait a few months. He could ask her to dinner when they weren't crammed like sardines on the carrier. He was okay with that compromise.

After he had gone to bed, Henry woke up a little while later and got up to use the bathroom. This area of the carrier was generally quiet at night and the bathroom door wasn't locked so he didn't even think to check to see if anyone was inside. He pushed open the door to find Elizabeth, clad only in a towel, hair wet and plastered to her glistening skin, "Oh my god, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry."

She stood up and pulled her towel tighter around herself, "No, I'm sorry, I have been in and out and no one else is usually up this late so I didn't think. I'm sorry."

"No, no, I'll leave. I'm so sorry." And with that he walked out of the bathroom and shut the door. He couldn't catch his breath.

Elizabeth stepped out a moment later, still in her towel. "Henry, seriously, you take the bathroom. I'm done." He couldn't help but look at her. The way the droplets of water glistened off her toned body was breathtaking, it seemed to enhance the blue sparkle of her eyes as well, not to mention how her skin looked all plump and glowing.

She reached out to touch his arm and she didn't know what the hell she was doing. It was like her brain stopped. She had played softball on a co-ed team in college, running around in a towel didn't make her uncomfortable but it definitely wasn't something she needed to be doing on a ship full of sailors.

She pulled her hand back, "Sorry, seriously though Henry. Please take the bathroom." And with that she slipped back into her room and shut the door. All she could think of was that he looked really good in just boxers and a t-shirt.

She thought they would joke about it the next day. Thought it would be a good laugh they shared while on their way to breakfast. She wouldn't say she was disappointed when she realized he wasn't in his room the next morning, she just brushed it off. There was a plethora of reasons he may have needed to leave before her. There would be no use in dwelling over it.

He wasn't at breakfast and when she got to ops it was all business. They had to be focused on their work but that was okay, she wasn't about to bring up what happened between them in front of the rest of the team anyway.

Henry was needed for flight drills and as he walked out of the ops room Elizabeth chased after him. "Hey, I know…"

However, Henry cut her off before she could finish, "Later, Elizabeth, I need to go through my flight check." He said curtly, completely blowing her off as he strode off toward the flight deck.

Elizabeth stood there in shock. She was so confused. Had what happened last night been so bad for him? She had thought that he felt something more behind their friendship but right now she felt like that intuition was dead wrong. He was completely ignoring her.

This went on for the rest of the week. Henry was basically ignoring her at all costs and she was completely fed up. God, she hated this, everything about this was so juvenile and stupid and she wasn't going to take it anymore. Fortunately for her, the limited space gave her ample opportunities to ambush him.

She left ops before he did and managed to disappear. It was movie night so Mather wouldn't be heading back to his bunk yet and it would give them a little bit of privacy to talk, because she was going to make him talk.

He rounded the corner to their bunks and was stopped right in his tracks by Elizabeth standing in front of his door. She was leaning against it with her arms crossed and she looked like she meant business.

He sighed, "Adams, I'm tired."

It felt like a sting to her heart when he called her 'Adams' instead of 'Elizabeth'. She couldn't help herself and she just blurted out, "Why are you being such an ass all of a sudden? What the hell is wrong with you? I thought we were friends but this past week you've been treating me like I'm the little sister who won't stop pestering you. Not even like that because you barely even acknowledge me. What the hell, Henry?"

Henry took a deep breath and took a step back from her, "Elizabeth, I'm trying to do my job. You should do the same." He hated how cold he was being but what the hell else was he supposed to do? He couldn't act on his feelings and that was killing him. He had too much respect for her and her abilities to risk her getting into trouble because they couldn't work around some lustful feelings.

Her face fell and she suddenly grew timid. "I just thought we were friends."

He sighed, "Of course we're friends." He snapped at her, not meaning to sound so aggressive but even though he was trying his hardest to suppress his feelings for her he couldn't bear the thought that she might doubt the sincerity of their friendship or god forbid think he felt he deserved something more because of their friendship. If she thought he was that type of man it would break his heart.

"Well, friends should be able to talk to each other, to discuss their feelings." She snapped right back. She was stern, her prior tameness completely gone, she wasn't backing down.

Henry sighed and ran his hands over his face. He groaned and looked straight at her, he couldn't do this dance anymore. "You know how I feel about you." His voice was low and laced with emotion he wasn't quite ready to let out of the bag. It wouldn't be fair to either of them if he did anyway. It didn't matter how he felt, right now just wasn't the right time.

Elizabeth bit her lip, she understood his hesitation but she was getting frustrated and she wasn't one to back down. She had brought this thing up and she was sure as hell going to finish it. "Do I? Do I really know? You say one thing and then you backtrack. We're the best of friends one day and then you won't even speak to me. I don't know what the hell to think anymore, Henry." She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. She was laying it all-well, most of it-on the table here, at the very least she needed some closure.

He pursed his lips, carefully contemplating his words so that he didn't say something he would regret. He couldn't hide the exasperation, he was so tired of keeping everything bottled inside. "What the hell do you want me to do? What do you want me to admit? You know how I feel about you. You don't think I don't want to say it? But what the hell happens if I do? It's against the rules and what if you don't like what I have to say? What then? We're stuck working together for another almost five months. I value you far too much to dump all of this on you and of course I value your friendship. I value your friendship so much that I couldn't stand it if I ever did anything to ruin it or to make you feel like it wasn't enough. I would never be able to forgive myself. This isn't the time or the place for anything more than that, even if I've never wanted anything more."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped, she wasn't expecting him to somehow be incredibly forthcoming all while not really admitting to anything. Suddenly a shrill ring came from her room. It was undoubtedly Isabelle calling with an update on the information she had requested earlier.

Henry knew who it was. "That will be Isabelle," he said quietly.

"I can call her back. I want to talk about this, Henry." She pleaded, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Get your call, I promise you we will talk about this later."

She eyed him suspiciously, she didn't want to wait another week to get a minute alone with him.

He managed a laugh and flashed her a small smile. "I promise, Elizabeth. I don't make promises I don't intend to keep."

She nodded and walked off into her room. They _would_ finish this later, she believed him, but right now she had to talk to Isabelle.

Henry immediately turned around and practically bolted to the carrier chapel. He hoped Booth was there, he really needed to talk. He and Booth normally didn't talk about his personal issues. They mostly debated. It was a reprieve of sorts for Henry, being able to hash out things like the fundamental conflict between Merton's theory of false self versus true self with someone who was just as passionate about the subject as he.

He thought he'd tried Booth's office first, it was late and he might be at the movie. He knocked on the door and prayed silently there would be an answer. He needed guidance right now.

"Come in," Booth called out. Henry breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door. "Booth, thank god, I…I have a question," Henry blurted out before he could even utter a hello.

Booth raised his eyebrows, "Really? You…have a question…for me?"

Henry laughed and ran his hands over his head, "It's not a technical question and I'm not here to start an argument, it's more of an ethical issue and I could use some guidance."

Booth set his pen down and motioned to the chair, "I'm happy to help, McCord."

Henry sat down and fidgeted around for a while trying to get comfortable. He didn't even know where to begin. He took a deep breath and rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward so he was holding his face in his hands. "I thought I believed that the right people come into your life at the right times, but what happens if the right person comes into your life at the wrong time? What do you do?"

Booth was silent for a moment and Henry looked up at him, desperate for an answer. "Booth, please?"

He sighed, "No arguing with me until I'm finished, got it?"

Henry nodded in agreement, he was desperate for advice.

"There is never a wrong time. There are difficult times where we struggle but there is no wrong time, you just have to be willing to take the leap. You know as well as I do that while we want to believe that right and wrong is black and white, we know deep down that isn't true. It's how we, as religious men, rationalize fighting in a war that so often lacks dignity. There is no wrong time to meet the right person, sometimes the 'wrong' times are when we need the right person most of all." When he finished speaking he was surprised to find Henry stayed silent, no argument or anything.

"Henry, is everything all right?"

Henry was shaken from his stupor, he shook his head, "Yeah, it's um, it's fine." He jumped up out of the chair, "Thanks Booth, for everything." With that he bolted out of the room.

He practically ran to Elizabeth's room. He paused outside the door for a moment to make sure she wasn't still talking to Isabelle and he knocked.

"Come in," she called from inside.

She was surprised when she turned to see Henry enter her room. She hadn't expected for him to come back this quickly. She took in his appearance, he seemed anxious and nervous-not two things she would normally associate with him.

He took a deep breath and looked right at her, "Elizabeth…I have feelings for you."

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Thanks for reading and I'm sorry it's been a while! Please review because I'm needy and insecure. lol (but for real though)


	7. Chapter 7

" _Elizabeth…I have feelings for you."_

Elizabeth just sat there with her mouth wide open. She had not expected their conversation to dive immediately into all the deep stuff.

Henry cleared his throat and continue, "I realize that at this point that's incredibly obvious but I just had to say it out loud. I need to be perfectly clear and candid about my feelings for you. And I want to do that but I also don't want to be _that_ guy."

Elizabeth managed to close her mouth and she took a deep breath before looking straight at him. She could play coy and pretend like she didn't know what he was talking about but of course she knew and she too was sick of games. She stood up so she could look him in the eye. "You think I _want_ to be that girl? I came here to work. I came here to prove myself to my boss. I never expected to meet someone like you."

Henry took a deep breath, "I never expected to fall for you. You have to understand, this isn't me. I've never once had even the tiniest of feelings for any other woman I've worked with. I don't know what to do with myself around you sometimes."

Elizabeth laughed, "I have feelings for you too, so what the hell are we doing? This is ridiculous. This hot and cold crap makes me feel like we're in high school." She said, resting her head in her hands, at this point she was just so emotionally exhausted.

Henry sighed, "I just don't want to be responsible for ruining your career. Me, it doesn't matter. This is my last tour and I'll resign my commission but you, you're just getting started and you are so talented and have so much potential and I would never forgive myself if I got in the way."

Elizabeth nodded, "I appreciate that, I do, but no matter what happens I am responsible for my own choices and my own career." She chuckled to herself, "I mean the last thing on earth I wanted to do was become some cliché and fall in love with some cocky flyboy with a perfect smile." She had meant for her statement to sound teasing but hadn't quite measured the gravity of her words.

Henry thought his heart stopped at her words. He cocked an eyebrow, "Fall in love?"

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide upon realizing what she had said. "No. I'm sorry, I was trying to be clever using some twisted turn of phrase." She cringed. It was a lie because technically she didn't _not_ love him. She certainly thought she _could_ love him-that's what was making this whole thing so complicated after all-but she had chosen her words poorly. This is what she got for trying to be cute. Son of a bitch.

Henry took a step forward and took in her demeanor. She was clearly uncomfortable and he knew it had been a slip of the tongue in a moment where she had been trying to process their emotional turmoil. "Just the idea that you could love me, that you're even open to the idea, is the best thing I've ever heard." He said, his tone wasn't teasing or bragging. He seemed genuinely shocked and truly touched.

Elizabeth visibly relaxed at his statement but looked away, as sweet as his words were she still felt shy about everything.

Henry held out his hand and she looked up at him. She hesitated for a moment and then reached out to place her hand in his. She smiled as their hands joined together, her small hand seemed to fit perfectly in his large one.

"Elizabeth," Henry practically whispered, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "I want this, Henry McCord. I want you."

He was sure he was grinning like an idiot but he didn't care. He playfully tugged her a little closer to him. "So this thing, we can't stop it from happening now, can we?"

She shook her head, "Nope, I think we have to dive right into the deep end."

Henry tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and then tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes. "I've wanted to do this for so long," with that he leaned forward and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Elizabeth sunk into him, melting into his strong embrace and even though acting on their feelings created a whole new set of problems for them she still felt like every bit of anxiety about this was finally able to drop away.

When they finally broke apart, both of them desperate for air. Elizabeth bit her lip and ran her hands along Henry's biceps. "I know this is a horrible, annoying question but this whole thing is already messy so maybe we should define it a little?" Her voice was wavering and she felt awkward saying this but she needed some definition. This wasn't high school or college where they could meet up for coffee and go to the movies; they were stuck on a carrier in the middle of the fucking ocean. This wasn't normal and she had no idea how to proceed.

Henry grinned, she was so cute when she was awkward, "No, it's not a horrible, annoying question. I agree with you. This isn't a normal situation so it will be good to give us some definition."

They both sat down on Elizabeth's bed, Henry reached out to intertwine their fingers and Elizabeth blushed as his fingers linked with her own.

"We can't tell anyone that we're together." She started, "I mean this ship is like a middle school cafeteria, no one can keep anything to themselves."

Henry laughed at her analogy, "Yeah, sadly you're right and I don't want to mess up our careers so we're definitely going to have to keep this just between the two of us."

"I kind of like that. That way it's just ours for a while. We don't have to deal with anyone else's opinions or judgments. We just get to enjoy each other."

Henry couldn't help but grin at her, "Looking on the bright side. I like you even more, Elizabeth Adams."

Elizabeth blushed, Henry did something to her she didn't really understand. All she knew was she liked it. She bit her lip, "And we're…exclusive?"

Henry had a comical grin on his face as he turned to her. "Because I have so many options in the middle of the Arabian Sea?"

She laughed and shook her head, "There are other women on this ship!"

Henry laughed at the question but he knew she was showing her insecurities and he didn't want to leave her with any doubt that if they were going to be together that she had nothing to worry about when it came to other women. He got serious once again and leaned in to kiss her. "Elizabeth, when I say I'm with you, I'm with you. That's it. I don't play games, I don't lead people on, when I'm in a relationship, I'm in it."

"So this is…we're in a relationship?"

"I'd like to be."

Elizabeth blushed yet again, she wasn't used to men affecting her this way. "Me too."

She leaned into his shoulder and he turned his head so he could kiss her temple. She couldn't stop smiling as he placed soft kisses down her hairline.

She let go of his hand and turned into him so that their lips met once again. Somehow her legs ended up over his lap and he snaked his arm under them and shifted her onto her back on the bed.

Henry hovered over her, his body sinking into hers though he was careful not to put all his weight over her.

Elizabeth felt safe and secure with him over her, his strong body fit hers like a glove and his hand on her hips felt like an anchor tethering her to this beautiful new reality.

Their kissing slowly became more and more heated until they found themselves tugging at clothing, both of them itching to take it farther, which is why Henry completely surprised Elizabeth when he pulled back.

"I think we should wait to have sex." He practically whispered.

Elizabeth propped herself up on her elbows and scooted herself up the tiny bed, her lips swollen and pink and pursed in an adorable frown, "I'm sorry, you don't want to have sex with me?" She wasn't sure whether to feel confused, offended, or just plain hurt.

Henry laughed and reached out to run his hand up and down her arm reassuringly, "No, god no, _of course_ I want to have sex with you. But we're on an aircraft carrier in a crappy bunk. First of all, at the risk of sounding very cheesy, I would like our first time to be at least a little special. And secondly, we're not exactly in a situation conducive to building a relationship. While these are our jobs right now our lives will look drastically different in five months."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, he surely wasn't proposing they stay celibate for the entire rest of their tour?

He understood her skeptical look immediately and he laughed, "I'm not saying we wait the whole five months. I'm just saying not yet. Let's not rush things just because we don't have anything else to do."

Elizabeth sighed, she hated that he was right, plus what if this was all just a result of their close quarters on the ship? She was pretty sure if they started sleeping together and then broke up at the end of the tour she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Henry was right, they needed to pace themselves. It was easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and she really didn't want to ruin whatever this was by becoming too focused on a physical relationship far too quickly, because she had an inkling it was going to turn into something. "Okay, I agree for the time being but I reserve the right to change my mind."

Henry laughed, "I accept. Plus, we uh, we don't have any…protection." He blushed when he said the word and Elizabeth thought it was the cutest thing she'd seen.

She smiled, "Well, concerning STD's I promise you I'm clean and concerning pregnancy, well I've got that taken care of as well."

Henry's cheeks somehow became a deeper shade of crimson. "I didn't…I'm sorry…I didn't mean for that to come off like I didn't think you were clean, I trust you. I am too, just so you know. I was thinking more about the birth control side of it."

She laughed, "I know and it's fine, Henry. It's good to know anyway. And see, we're communicating better already, this is good."

Henry laughed and leaned in to kiss her again. She bit his lip gently and he ground his pelvis into hers before he realized it. He loved how her body felt against his, her taunt muscles constricting as she squeezed her thighs around him and pulled him closer. A single moment of clarity allowed him to pull back. He propped himself up between her legs and he moved to get off the bed. "I should get back to my room."

Elizabeth shifted onto her side, "Or you could just stay here?"

Henry laughed and shook his head, "Really? Are you already going back on this deal?"

Elizabeth giggled and shook her head, "No, just sleep. Sleep with me in the literal sense, Henry McCord. We have to be up early tomorrow and the best night's sleep I've had aboard this ship was when you spent the night with me after I got shot."

Henry bit his lip as he contemplated her offer and he nodded. "Okay, I'll be back in five minutes."

They both got ready for bed and Henry was back as quickly as he promised. He climbed into bed after Elizabeth and she curled up in his arms. He inhaled deeply, letting her scent wash over him. Even stale carrier air couldn't masque her sweet natural scent.

"Hey, I need to say one more thing."

Elizabeth tilted her head up to look at him.

He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for the way I've acted toward you, especially this past week. I didn't know how to handle my feelings. One minute I was sure you felt the same way and then the next I was afraid I was just seeing what I wanted to see. And I never wanted to act like some asshole who made you think my friendship came with romantic strings attached. I was confused and because of that I allowed myself to treat you badly and for that I'm sorry. There's no excuse for it."

Elizabeth smiled and reached up to run her hand through his hair, "You're a good man, Henry McCord. Please don't doubt that. So you brushed me off a few times, you didn't do it to be malicious. Give yourself a break. This whole thing is new territory for both of us, you're forgiven a few moments of confusion, even though you don't need it. I do appreciate your apology, but even more than that I appreciate that you care so much about my feelings."

"Of course I care about your feelings. I care about you and I promise from now on I'm going to make this easier between us and just be honest about my feelings."

Elizabeth grinned and leaned in to place a quick kiss on his lips. "I like that, I'm going to try to always be forthcoming and honest about my feelings as well but I can't promise it's going to be easy for me."

"That's okay, trying is what's truly important. And you're worth trying for, Elizabeth Adams."

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Thank you for all the kind reviews on the last chapter. I genuinely appreciate each and every one of them. Thanks so much for reading & please leave a review if you enjoyed it!


	8. Chapter 8

Elizabeth felt different sitting next to Henry in the ops room. It felt strange to just go along with her business like nothing had happened between them last night. As if their mouths weren't suddenly intimately acquainted.

Henry noticed she seemed to be struggling to keep herself focused. He snuck his hand under the table and reached out to squeeze hers lightly. She tried to hide her smile, just the corners of her lips curving up slightly.

He didn't know what he was trying to reassure her of but it didn't matter. She knew he was there and that was enough.

She felt her cheeks getting warm as his knuckles grazed the back of her hand.

She couldn't look at him or else she would completely lose her cool. This was the strangest and most wonderful feeling in the world. This whole thing was strange but in the best way. She'd never before had a relationship she was this excited about. The way she felt about Henry was different than how she'd felt about anyone else she'd ever dated. She figured it should scare her but it didn't, she _liked_ it.

Unfortunately, her inability to focus was making the day feel incredibly long. Lunch wasn't even helpful because they grabbed food quickly and headed right back to work. She wanted a minute alone with Henry, actually she didn't _want_ it, she _craved_ it.

The rest of the day went just as slowly and she could not have been more relieved when they broke for dinner. They wouldn't reconvene until the next morning because the squadron had flight drills early the next day and they needed to be alert.

Some form of entertainment must have been occurring after dinner because their walk back to their bunks only got quieter as they moved. Their hands would touch from time to time and she could feel her face grow flush every time. Henry was fairly certain his cheeks were bright red at this point and he felt like some grade school child with a crush. He was pretty positive Elizabeth Adams was going to drive him crazy and he was perfectly fine with that.

Finally, she broke their comfortable silence with a whisper, "You're throwing off my game, McCord."

He laughed and shook his head, "I don't think a meteor crashing into earth could throw off your game."

She blushed and laughed, she enjoyed his modesty but she had never been good at taking a compliment herself.

They arrived at her door and she reached out for the handle and paused before she opened it, "You wanna come in?"

"Is that really a question?"

She felt her whole body grow warm as she turned away to open the door. They both slipped inside and Henry felt his whole body relax because they were finally alone.

They made eye contact and were suddenly all over each other, lips, hands, bodies all pressed together like they'd been separated for months.

They ended up on her bed where things were escalating quickly, his uniform shirt was unbuttoned and his belt was somewhere on the floor along with her shirt. His hands made their way down her bare torso and into the waistband of her pants when he suddenly pulled back. He was out of breath and she let out a sigh of disappointment.

He took a deep breath, trying to contain himself, which was difficult with their pelvises pressed together, so he stood up and attempted to compose himself.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry," he muttered, shaking his head.

She frowned, "What on earth are you sorry for?"

"We shouldn't have gotten carried away like that. We said we were going to wait and now we're both half naked and I should have asked before I even attempted to get your pants off.

Elizabeth sat up with a smile. She was surprised, she'd shoved guys off her for going farther than she'd wanted to before and they'd never apologized but she'd definitely never had one apologize when she'd been a willing participant. "Henry, come on, nothing happening in this room isn't consensual. Don't do that."

He sighed, "I just don't think it's acceptable for me to get carried away, especially when we've laid out a rule for ourselves."

"Henry, stop it, we both got carried away and we both wanted it. There's nothing wrong with what we're doing. We're allowed to break our own rules."

He groaned and ran his hands over his face as he tried to calm himself down, "We shouldn't though, not yet. How about we just…talk?"

Elizabeth scrunched her face and that made him laugh, she was so cute. "I have a photo album, want to see it?" She surprised even herself with her willingness to show him her past. She barely even talked to her friends about her family but with Henry she already wanted him to know everything.

He seemed to understand what a big deal this was for her and found himself getting emotional that she was so ready to share this side of herself with him.

She grabbed the small photo album from a bag in the corner and cuddled into his side on her bed. She showed him photos from childhood and told him about her parents and her brother. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her, he couldn't say it just yet because he was pretty sure it would terrify her but he was already in love with her. All he wanted was to help her rebuild the family she'd lost. He felt a little crazy but then again, he had always believed that when you know you _know_.

They came to a picture of teenage Elizabeth on a horse and he noticed her eyes light up.

"You rode horses?" He inquired.

"Yeah, still do, I have practically since I could walk. You?"

"Absolutely not!" He shook his head, he admired her for her equine love but he was a city boy and he had never been near a horse in his life.

Elizabeth couldn't stop laughing, "You're a fighter pilot but you won't get on a horse?"

"Statistically you're more likely to die on a horse than in a plane."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "I have a feeling they meant commercial aircraft. It's probably safe to assume they didn't include fighter jets when compiling those statistics."

Henry laughed and shrugged, "Okay, you're right, but when I'm flying I'm in control. That's a wild animal with a mind of its own!"

Elizabeth was now laughing hysterically at him, he was being ridiculous and she found it adorable. "So cruising at Mach 2 in a hunk of aluminum at 20,000 feet in the air when even a small mechanical issue or a missile could kill you but a horse is scary because it has a mind of its own?" She was grinning when she asked him and he scrunched his face together, he knew he was being ridiculous but he couldn't help it. He'd never been near a horse and he was nervous about it.

"Well, technically I'm only going at about Mach 1.6 most of the time and only about half of the aircraft is made of aluminum..." He was deflecting and she cut him off by leaning in and nipping his lip gently to make him laugh.

"Stop deflecting, Captain." She shifted so her torso was turned toward him and she could look him directly in the eyes. She reached over so she could caress his cheek gently before her hand ended up tangled in his hair, "You wouldn't even go riding with me?"

Henry felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, when she stared at him with those baby blues…god, he would do anything for her. He bit his lip, "Babe, I'd go anywhere with you." And god did he mean it.

Elizabeth blushed and shoved the book to the side so she could wrap both her arms around his neck and properly kiss him. Henry reacted in turn and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body as close as possible to him. She shifted just enough so that she could straddle his lap while they kissed. He peppered kisses along her neck and felt her body react to his touch. "So maybe we could…have some fun in the barn after we ride?" He said between kisses.

Elizabeth cringed and laughed, "Okay city boy, have you ever smelled a horse? Or been in a barn? That's disgusting."

He laughed as he peppered kisses back up her neck, "I guess you'll have to show me the ropes, farm girl."

She just laughed as her lips found his once again and she thought that she'd really like to someday.

As the days went by they grew more comfortable with the routine they had to follow on the carrier. It wasn't difficult, most of the guys didn't really question it when they would slip off in opposite directions and meet up in her bunk. They were able to focus on their duties and in their off time they were getting to know each other, _really_ getting to know each other. It was fast but it all felt so right. They frequently found themselves frustrated at their decision to wait to have sex but the getting to know each other part was going so well that they both conceded that right now it was for the best. They had a few days of leave coming up in a month and they planned on spending it together. She hadn't told him yet, but their little sexless experiment was _over_ come time for leave, she had plans to get everything she craved and she knew he'd never turn her down.

Things aboard the ship had been more active lately; the squadron had been called out several times and had a few close encounters and the strength of the feelings that came with them were a surprise for Elizabeth. She felt like she could barely breathe until she got confirmation that he was okay each time.

Tonight, the signal for the air raid had gone off while they were both half-dressed in Elizabeth's bunk. They scrambled to get their clothing on and Henry opened the door to find Mather running out of his own bunk. Elizabeth was still getting ready so Henry shut the door quickly and followed him. Mather was a focused guy so Henry silently prayed to himself that he was so focused on heading to get his gear that he didn't pay any attention to Henry coming out of Elizabeth's room or the fact that he was so disheveled. As Henry ran through the ship he realized one of his shirt buttons was off. He'd be putting his flight suit on soon enough but he didn't want to risk one of the guys noticing and commenting so he attempted to fix it as he ran through the carrier maze.

By the time he got his gear on and made it to the ready room he noticed Elizabeth was already there. She had clearly brushed her hair and straightened herself up before heading out and the sight of her so focused as she spoke with the CAG made him immediately relax.

After their ops meeting they were sent to the flight deck for the mission, Henry was out first as usual since he was the squadron leader and as his plane lifted off the carrier he felt the same sense of serene calm he got every time he left the ground.

They were supposed to be heading over southern Afghanistan, missiles had been spotted and tracked and they were in effect keeping watch until a target on the ground could be acquired-or at least they thought that was what was happening.

As he was entering the fly zone he got a transmission from the carrier. Incoming aircraft, that hadn't been anything they were expecting.

Back at the carrier Elizabeth was starting to internally panic. Missiles were one thing but engaging in air combat was another and it scared the hell out of her.

An alarm went off in the ops room meaning one of the aircrafts had signaled they had been targeted. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, all she could do in the moment was pray it wasn't Henry.

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Sorry, it's been a while. I've been busy! I hope you enjoyed the update, please leave a review! Thank you for reading!


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